Rotary retort



J. W. H. RANDALL.

ROTARY RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED APR-8.1921.

1,41 3 ,779. .Patellted Ap 25, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J- W. H. RANDALL.

ROTARY RETORT. APPLICATION FILED APR.8.1921.

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JAMES W. H. RANDALL, OE NEW YORK, N. Y.

, ,B'OTARY RETORT.

Beit known that JAMES W. RANDALL,

a subject of the King of Great Britain, (but havingtaken out lllS firstpapers with the intention of becoming a citizen of the United States,)residing at v of, :Manhattan, 1n the county and New York city, boroughState of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Rotary Retort,of which thefollowing is aspemficationj -Thisfli1ivention relates torotary retorts,

- and, whilefparticularly adapted for employ- (meritwith: rotary retortsused for the destructivedistillation of oil-bearing shale, is

capable of general application.

In destructively the employment of a rotary retort,- the' shale is fedinto the upper end of an inclined retort and travels longitudinally ofthe retort, which is heated externally. Duringits passage-through theretort, the material is fractiona'ted, the volatilized hydrocarbonsbeing drawn ofi-loy suitable means and the waste products-or ash beingfed out of the lower end of theiretort.

Inmy-copending application, Serial No. 380,967,- filedMay 13, 1920, arotary retort for carryingfloutthe destructive distillation of shale isdescribed and claimed and in the a paratus of such application, means isrovided for introducing steam or other uid or gas into the interiorofthe retort for the purpose of driving off the volatihzed hydrocarbonsand to lower the temperature of dis-- tillation whereby the distillationmay be accomplished at low temperatures.

In'order that the steam or other fluid or gas introduced into the retortfor this purpose may function. with the highest'efiiciency, it isnecessary that such steam or gas be caused to circulate through thematerial during treatment and for this reason, the retort of mycopending application is provided on the interior walls thereof withperforated ipes through which the steam, etc. is feel. he object of thisarrangement. is to enable the feeding of steam through the pipes in tionof the retort, the material is tumbled therein and successively buriesthe plpes 1n distilling shale through Specification of Letters Patent.Pat t d A 25 .1922 Application filed April 8,

feeds freely through such pipes asare uncovered that the covering of theother pipesserves, in a measure, to hold back the feed. Accordingly,whilebetter results are obtainable in the apparatus of my copendingapplicat'ion than have heretofore been possible, I I have found thatmaximum efliciency and the economy of steam consumption can best beobtained if only such steam is admitted as may be passed through thematerial 'to be treated. In other words, a relatively small amount ofsteam can be caused to circulate through the material during thedistillation process, better results are obtainable than though a muchlarger amount of steam were fed broadcast into the interior of theretort. 1 W1th the foregoing considerations in mind,

the object of the present invention is to pro:

vide means for controlling the feed of steam, fluid or other materialinto a retort of the character specified, in such-mannerthat all of suchsteam, etc. fed into the retort'will be required to pass through thematerial therein. In this manner, maximum efliciency' with minimumconsumpation is obtained.

In the preferred practical manner of carrying out this invention, aseries of steam pipes are providedon the inner walls of the retort andthese pipes are valved and the flow therethrough controlled in suchmanner that steam will be fed only through such pipes as are actuallycovered or buried by the material in the retort. In this way all steamfed into the retort is positively required to pass through .thematerial. j v

Features of the'invention, other than those specified will be apparentfrom the hereinafter detailed description and claims, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical embodiment ofthe'invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood asillustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.' DFigure 1 is a vertical longitudlna-l section able intervals along itslengt by rollers 2;

which bear against rings 3 extending circumferentially of the retort.The material to be treated is fed into the upper end of the retort (notshown), is tumbled longitudinally of such retort and the ash passes outof the discharge end 4 into a chamber 5, havingan outlet 6. A stack 7 isassociated with the chamber 5 and functions in a manner well known vinthe art.

When a retort of the character specified is in operatiomthe retort 1 isrotated by any suitable means, while the outlet chamber remainsstationary, and, accordingly, suitable packing 8, is associated with theoutlet casing to preclude leakage in the connection between these parts.

The showing of the retort rotation and its manner of mounting asdescribed forms no part of the present invention, but is advanced inorder that the adaptability of the invention to a retort of thischaracter may be more readily understood. The present invention isapplicable to any form of inclined rotary retort, now in use and may beassociated toadvantage with a retort of the character described claimedin my said copen'ding application.

In associating the present invention with an inclined rotary retort, aplurality of perforated pipes are mounted on the interiorofthe retortand these pipes may be secured in position in any desired manner,

' such for example as by strapping them to the retort wall. Moreover,they may be formed straight or extend in a curvilinear path, but arepreferably so disposed as to extend along the interior of the retort inparallel relation to one another and to the axis of rotation of theretort.

In the construction shown, two series of pipes are illustrated, thepipes of the first series which are designated by the referencecharacter 9 are adapted to feed steam throughout'a portion of the lengthof the retort, while the pipes designated 10 are intended for thefeeding of steam to another portion of the length of the retort. Thisarrangement has been found to work out well in practice, though, ifdesired, steam I I may be fed throughout the length of the retortthrough a single series of pipes 9 or 10 without departing from thisinvention;

Steam is fed to the pipes 9 and 10 from an annular header 11, whichextends circumferentially of the retort and is rigidly secured in placethereon in any suitable manner. This header is shown in section inFigure 3. Each pipe of each'series, however, is connected with a headerthrough a valve, which valves are designated 12 and 13, respectively,with reference. to the pipes 9 and 10. The valves may be of any desiredconstruction, but are preferably of the to tary type to the stems ofwhich are secured operating handles 12 and 13*, respectively. Throughthe manipulation of the operating handles, the valves 12 and 13 may besealed and unsealed, so as to permit or preclude the passage of steamfrom the header 11. through either or both series of pipes 9 and 10. v

Steam is fed to the header 11 through a pipe 14, which leads from asupply pipe 15 disposed coaxially of the retort. The pipe 15 extendsthrough the chamber 5 and into the retort and is rotatable with thelatter. A suitable stufling box 16 may be associated with the pipe whereit passes through the-wall of the chamber 5 to preclude leakage at thispoint and said pipe may be rigidly braced with. reference to the retortby means of struts, such as show at 1 By this construction, the pipe 15is rigidly carried from the walls of the retort, rotates with the retortcoaxially therewith, while the Walls of the outlet'chamber 5 remainstationary. This construction permits of the feeding of steam throughthe supply pipe 15 and branch 14 to the header 11 at all times, andthrough the manipulation of the valve steam handles 12 and 13, the feedof such steam to the respective pipes '9 and 10 may be controlled.

My experience has shown that when shale or analogous material is beingtreated in an inclined rotary retort, the shale is tumbled about theinterior of the retort, during its passage longitudinally thereof andwhile gravity tends to hold the shale on the invert'of the retort, therotation of the latter efi'ects a'banking of the material upon thereceding surface, so that the material ordinarily assumes the positionshown at 18 in Figure 2. This material is in the form of a constantlymoving. mass, and baffles or ribs 19 preferably extend from the innersurface of theretort to effect a pronounced agitation of the mass, but,in practice, the transverse outline of such mass does not materiallyvary from the showing of Figure 2.

When a retort functions in the manner de- 1126 scribed, it will beapparent that at any particular time, the mass of material 18 will covercertain of the pipes 9 and 10, while the remainder of such pipes will beuncovered. if steam is allowed to flow into all of the v '10 passes intothe retort is required to circulate through and into intimate contactwith all parts of the material under treatment and it is the object ofthis invention, as hereinbefore stated, to accomplish this result. Themechanism shown in the drawings is so 0011- stituted as to enable suchmode of operation to be practiced and this end is obtained I through theproper control of the valves 12- and 13 to the end that steam will befed through only such pipes as are covered and will be restrained fromsuch pipes as are uncovered by the material under-treatment.

It will be noted from the drawings that the handles 12 and 13 of therespective valves are peculiarly formed in that they embody radiallyextending arms. The valves, being mounted on and supported by theretort, bodily rotate therewith and such bodily'rotation of the valvesis availed of to effect their operation and sequence by the means nextto be described.

Supported in any suitable manner, such for example'as upona foundation20 are a 1 pair of standards 21 and 22 spaced apart, as shown in Figure1 and convexly shaped at their upper parts to embrace a portion of thecircumference of the retort. These standards form supports for trippingpins or projections 21?, 21 22* and 22*, which projections extend in adirection parallel to the axis of rotation of the retort and into thepath of the arms of the valve handles 12 and projections 21 and 22respectively, which tend to arrest the movement of the arms as 13*. Thepositioning of the pins or projections described is such that as theretort rotates, the radial arms of the handles 12 and 13 are broughtinto engagement with the 21 and 22 during the passage of which, the

valves are operated in a retrograde direction and resealed. The pinsor'projections 21,

21", 22 and 22* are so positioned that the steam will be turned on to apipe at about the time'iit becomescovered or buried by the materialunder treatment and will be turned off at about-the time the pipebecomes uncovered. The steam fed to the pipes is under sufficientpressure to overcome the weight or resistance, of the material undertreatment, and, accordingly, practically all the steam fed into theretort is passed through the material.

In the commercial machine, the pins 2122" are secured in any suitablemanner within apertures 23 and a series of these apertures is providedfor each pin, so that the position of the pins may be varied to open andclose the valves earlier or later as occasion may require. Thisadjustment may be obtained by merely shifting the pins to obtain theproper opening and closing, which, of course, will depend largely on theampuntof material passing through the retor A In the foregoing detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention, two distinctseries of pipes are embodied for feeding steam to different portions ofthe length of the retort, and, accordingly, two

sets of valves are shown for feeding these series of pipes fromtheheader. It will be understood that if only one series of pipes isemployed to feed the retort throughout its entire length, only one setof valves will be required and that, if'desired in practice, the severalportions of the length of the retort may be fed by different headerspositioned at spaced distances along the retort and with each of which asingle set of valves is associated. These different alternate forms donot effect the underlying principle of the present invention, which isdirected broadly to passing steam or other fluid or gas through themoving material within the rotary retort in such manner that in order toenter the retort, the steam must pass through the material. The presentinvention is accordingly not restricted to'the particular showing made,but is to be construed as broadly novelas is commensurate with theappended claims. i

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

.1.- The combination with a rotary retort, of a plurality of pipesextending longitudinally of the retort and positioned interiorlythereof, a source of fluid supply and means controlled by the rotationof the retort for permitting or precluding'the flow of fluid from thesource of supply into such pipes.

2. The combination with a rotary retort, of a plurality of valvedperforated pipes extending longitudinally of theretort and interiorlythereof, and means controlled by the rotation of the retort foreffecting the operation of such valves.

3. The combination-with a rotary retort, of a plurality of pipespositioned interiorly of the retort, valves associated with said pipesand rotatable withthe retort and relatively stationary means adapted forcooper-- ation with the valves to effect an unsealing and sealing of thevalves when the retort is rotated.

4. The combination with a retort, of a plurality of ipes within theretort, a valve associated with each pipe and mounted for rotation withthe retort, a movable operating member associated with each valve andfixed operating means adapted for cooperati on with the operatingmembers of the valve to effect a sealing or unsealing of the valves asthe retort is rotated.

5. The combination with a rotary retort, of a header carried thereby, aplurality of valved pipes adapted to be fed from said header andextending into the retort, and mechanical means cooperating with thevalves when the retort is rotated to effect a sealing and unsealing ofthe valves.

6. The combination with a rotary retort, of a header carried thereby, aplurality of pipes leading from the header into the interior of theretort, a valve in each pipe, movable operating means associated witheach valve and fixed tripping'me'ans adapted to be engaged by the valveoperating means, when the retort is rotated to effect a sealing orunsealing of the valve.

7. The combination with a rotary retort, of an annular headercircumferentially embracing the retort, a .plurality of pipes leadingfrom the header into the retort, and perforated interiorly thereof, avalve in each of said pipes, an operating arm associated with each valveand fixed projections, mounted in the path of theoperating arms andadapted to be engaged thereby when the retort is rotated for the purposeof successively sealing and unsealing the valve.

8. he combination with a rotary retort,

- and longitudinally thereof, a valve assoteam ing with all of theperforated pipes, avalve associated with each of the perforated pipesfor controlling the feed of fluid from the feed pipe to the perforatedpipes, an operating member associated with each valve, and trippingmeans positioned in the path -of the I operating members when the retortis r0,- tated to successively seal and unseal the valves. i

10. The combination with a rotary retort, of an annular headerembracingthe retort, a supply pipe extending coaxially of the retort forfeeding fluid to the header, a plu- 'rality of perforated pipesextending from the header into the interior of the retort ciated with.each of the perforated pipes, an operating member associated with eachvalve, a trip positioned in the path of the operating member when theretort is rotated to effect an unsealing of the valve, and a second tripalso positioned in the path of the valve operating member tosubsequently effect a sealing of the valve.

In testimony whereof ll have signed the foregoing specification.

JAMES W. H. RANDALL.

